Meet the first family of Delaware drones: Ryan Media Lab

Can your family discuss drones at length over the dinner table? This family can.

Ryan Media Lab is a company based out of Lewes that has many clients in the drone industry. Formed in 2013, this startup is family owned and operated. Mark Ryan is the founder and CEO of the company, while his son Kyle Ryan, 25, is his main business partner.

Mark’s wife, Rana Ryan, takes care of customer relations and business development while Isabella Ryan, 21, currently focuses on logistics and business administration while wrapping up her last year at the University of Delaware. Their youngest, 16-year-old Clara Ryan, is involved with client relations.

The company touts an impressive list of clients, one of which is Flirtey, a company responsible for the first Federal Aviation Administration–approved drone delivery in partnership with NASA.

But Ryan Media Lab isn’t just a media firm, it’s also very active in drone legislation. Both Mark and Kyle serve on the #DronesForDelaware DelDOT task force.

“Specifically our clients have drones that fly, some are on the water and some are unmanned land vehicles,” said Kyle Ryan. “We have a pretty broad view in terms of what the future is going to need and where the drones are going to be effective in society.”

Partners Mark and Kyle think there’s an awareness deficit: people are scared of drones because they don’t know about their positive impacts, they say. It’s tough to think otherwise when the general public was first introduced to “drones” as deadly military weapons.

“We produce the events where our clients can demonstrate their technology,” said Mark Ryan. “That is a very challenging endeavor. That gives everyone potential downstream customers for them and gives them the opportunity to see the tech for the first time. It’s good for commercial demonstrations, but it’s also good for the socialization for public awareness and public acceptance of the technology.”